As I sit on my desk pondering on what to blog about this
Friday morning of October 11, I find myself suffering from a writer’s block. No
ideas, no concepts, no subject matter, hence, no words.
I am amidst a home-buying and home-selling situation and
with two young children, an eight-to-five job, and house chores, I am drained.
I am learning though that there are two things good to have
when you’re amidst a homebuying process—a supportive and positive spouse and reliable
real estate and loan agents.
First you need the solid support of your partner to bounce
off thoughts and weigh pros and cons when considering a property that may end
up being your lifelong home. I usually decide with my heart and thankfully, my
husband is practical and mathematical. Plus when I get so engrossed on checking
my MLS link (Multiple Listing Service is a resource sent to you by your real
estate agent to communicate prospective properties), there is a partner who
remembers to prepare milk for the baby.
Second, you need to have a reliable real estate agent who
looks out for your needs, not his. Ours is Rodman Amiri of Merit Real Estate
who knows our budgets, knows our needs, and knows our tastes by heart
(including our eldest daughter’s, Jamie, who longs for yard space for a jumper
on her birthdays.) He makes sure that the areas we vie for are conducive to
raising a family. He anticipates our future plans (I told you how he knows
these by heart) and makes sure the homes we look at have room to grow into.
Finally, he looks out for the price. He studies the comparables—list of surrounding
homes with the same specifications in a particular neighborhood—and all other
real estate factors that allow us to make the right offers and not overbid. He
disregards a property if it is not suited for us even if it may mean earning
him a bigger commission. He wants our mortgage payments to be comfortable for
us to keep the house for the long-term. Lastly, I cannot thank him enough for
his patience and perseverance. For all of my family’s collective desires in
finding a house, and selling our current one, he always meets those needs. And
I say always.
Finally, you have to have a stable financing company behind
you. Redondo Mortgage Center (RMC) has been around South Bay for nearly 25
years. It is good to have a solid pre-qualification on hand before you even
start shopping for a home. RMC will guide you through the process and ensure
that you are qualified to make an offer.
I will not say that homebuying is completely stress-free.
Particularly if you are hormonal like me. But with partners alongside you who
make the process adventures as opposed to arduous, there is a lot to look
forward to than stress about. It is certainly comforting to have a partner who
can put you in a realistic perspective and a real estate agent who remembers
that a yard needs to be big enough for a bouncer.
I guess I no longer have a writer’s block J
-MMG
